Reduction-in- Force Determination and Provisions Statement

When organizational, entity, unit planning or budgeting needs dictate review and change, all relevant Duke offices will be consulted for direction. When a review involves personnel reorganization, reclassification, and/or the possibility of reducing the work force, the vice president for Human Resources and the vice president for the Office of Institutional Equity or their designees must be consulted early in the planning process. All necessary actions will be taken to ensure that decisions are made based upon careful analysis and that staff are treated fairly and offered opportunities for assistance through either the redeployment or layoff processes.

All reduction-in-force decisions should include the following elements:

• Careful analysis to determine which entities, departments, units, programs, services, etc. should be reduced.
• Identification of the positions to be eliminated.
• Identification of the jobs and functions that will need to be performed after reductions.
• Determination of reduction-in-force implementation plan to include timeline, communication plan, notification process, reassignment/bumping process, redeployment process, etc.
• Assessment of competencies of affected staff.
• Assessment of competencies of present staff to perform the jobs/positions remaining.
• Opportunities for reassignment and bumping within entity units.
• Support from entity, organizational and/or institutional senior leadership to apply priority interview and/or priority selection consideration processes.
• Written notification to the affected staff member(s) as soon as feasible, but not less than 60 days prior to the effective date of the action.
• Reasonable opportunities for displaced staff to interview for other employment at Duke.
• A program developed and provided by Human Resources to support the reduction-in-force implementation.
• Opportunity for the affected staff member to appeal, if he/she believes that the reason for the reduction action is a form of discrimination or if the appropriate reduction-in-force procedures were not followed.

Steps for a Reduction-in-force plan

• A clear statement of the rationale for eliminating or reducing positions, programs and/or services must be developed. The statement must address the ultimate objectives to be achieved, such as reallocation of resources, effecting a budgetary reduction or enhanced productivity.
• Organizational, entity, department and/or unit functions and responsibilities must be carefully analyzed to determine which areas, activities, programs, organizations or classifications should be reduced.
• The jobs and functions that will need to be performed after the reductions are identified.
• Personnel file review for affected staff to determine acceptable performance record.
• The nature of the reduction-in-force, reduction-in-force process (reassignment, bumping, redeployment and/or layoff) and the staff affected must be determined.
• All documentation prepared in the evaluation process and an explanation of the recommendations will be sent to the appropriate Duke executive vice president, chief executive officer or executive director of the affected entity(ies), vice president for Human Resources/Chief Human Resources Officer and vice president for the Office for Institutional Equity (or their designee) for approval.

Position Elimination/ Layoff Procedures

• Positions of temporary and orientation and evaluation staff within a job classification will be eliminated before any regular staff (full-time, abbreviated work schedule, or part-time work schedule) or regular part-time staff within the same classification and department.
• Positions of regular part-time staff (staff working less than 20 hours per week) within a job classification within a department will be eliminated in reverse order of their seniority. The position of a regular part-time staff member with the least seniority will be eliminated first, and the position of a regular part-time staff member with the most seniority will be eliminated last.
• Positions of regular staff on an abbreviated work schedule (greater than 20 hours a week but less than 40 hours a week) within a job classification within a department will be eliminated in reverse order of their seniority. The position of a regular staff member with the least seniority will be eliminated first, and the regular staff member on an abbreviated schedule with the most seniority will be eliminated last.
• Positions of regular full-time staff within a job classification within a department will be eliminated in reverse order of their seniority. The position of a regular full-time staff member with the least seniority will be eliminated first, and the positions of a regular full-time staff member with the most seniority will be eliminated last.
• Positions made vacant by a reduction-in-force may not be filled for at least 12 months from the effective date of the reduction notification, except by following the recall provisions of this procedure. This requirement applies even if, following the reduction-in-force, the affected position is reclassified into another similar position.
• In the case of a staff member whose duties are divided between two or more departments or entities a reduction-in-force decision by one department/entity will not obligate the other(s) to increase the hours or funding to compensate for the reduction.

Authorization for Layoffs

The decision to affect layoffs should be made by the designated senior leader only when redeployment and training/re-training are deemed impractical. Human Resources will provide early consultation and collaborative planning regarding policies, procedures and workforce demographics.

Reduction-in-force Plan Review and Approval Process

1. The Vice President for Human Resources/Chief Human Resources Officer (or designee) will review the written plan to determine that all work force reduction determinations are consistent with this procedure and that affected staff are treated in an equitable, compassionate and consistent manner.
2. The Vice President for the Office for Institutional Equity will review the plan for adverse impact; i.e. to ensure that protected classes are not disproportionately affected by the reduction-in-force decision.
3. The vice presidents/Chief HR Officer will submit the plan with their approvals or recommendations for action to the appropriate Duke executive vice president or his/her designee.
4. Following approval, the confidential written plan describing the nature of the reduction-in-force and the staff affected will be sent through the appropriate administrative channels. Only at such time as the Duke executive vice president and entity chief executive officer (or designee) concurs with the recommendation may the organization, entity, department or unit initiate the notification process.

Reduction-in-force Notification Process

1. Once the reduction-in-force plan is approved, the organization and/or entity senior leader will meet with the management staff to review the communication, notification and implementation plan.
2. The entity and/or department head will schedule a meeting with affected staff (either as a group or individually) not less than 60 days prior to the effective date of the action.
3. At that time, the affected staff member(s) will be formally notified and provided with a letter of notification of the position elimination.
4. Each letter of notification must include language describing transition assistance offered by Human Resources and the affected staff member's right to file an appeal.